


Little Mysteries

by thealphagate_archivist



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Alternate Universe, First Time, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-03-27
Updated: 2006-03-27
Packaged: 2019-02-02 18:43:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12732138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thealphagate_archivist/pseuds/thealphagate_archivist
Summary: This is an AU story where Colonel O'Neill, grieving after Charlie is killed and Sara leaves him, decides he doesn't want to outlive his son any more. But he first feels compelled to fulfill a promise he made to his mother on her death bed years before and visits Ireland, the land of his ancestors. Still in the Emerald Isle, Jack experiences such a bout of despair that he goes to a lonely beach and readies his gun to commit suicide. A wave takes him before Jack can pull the trigger, and suddenly O'Neill's life is touched by a bit of mystery.





	Little Mysteries

**Author's Note:**

> Note from the archivists: this story was originally archived at [The Alpha Gate](https://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Alpha_Gate), a Stargate SG-1 archive, which began migration to the AO3 in 2017 when its hosting software, eFiction, was no longer receiving support. To preserve the archive, we began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in November 2017. We e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are this creator and it hasn't transferred to your AO3 account, please contact us using the e-mail address on [The Alpha Gate collection profile](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/thealphagate).

Definition: "Little Mystery" - A small elemental spirit, usually one from the land or the sea, who have powers such as shape-changing or telepathy. These spirits are known for their playful, mischievous and sometimes capricious personalities. 

The gray weather was metamorphosing quickly into a fierce blow, but the Irish fisherman just ignored the biting wind from long practice as he hurried home to his dinner and ale. It was a night good only for the selkies who played in the shape of seals in the waves, not for regular folk. 

Intent on his goal, he was startled to almost collide with a lonely figure who passed him on the way from the pier. If it had been one of the folk from town, he would have warned them to turn around before they were drenched or the waves got too swollen from rain. But this man, he could see from the height and breadth of him that it was definitely a man, was a stranger. That fact in itself would have peaked his curiosity normally. But the forbidding look of anger and sadness on the other man's face shot down any normal small village curiosity. There were more clouds of gloom hanging over this guy than all the storm clouds hanging low in the sky. Here was a man who had nothing to lose, and it was bad luck to have anything to do with such as he.

Colonel Jack O'Neill ignored the man who walked by him, knowing by his dress that he was one of the local fishermen. His thoughts wrapped around his mind like dark swirls of smoke, moving snapshots from the life of his son, of Sara, of the Air Force. 

Overhanging all these pictures was the one that had come to dominate his life, the monster that wouldn't leave him alone...

/Jack, wanting to see Sara for a few minutes before he gathered up Charlie to go to the game, hurried up to his office, pulled off his holster and side piece, and locked the gun into the top drawer of his desk. Absently he undid his tie, enjoying the loosening of the constriction he'd put up with all day during the meeting. Without thinking, he pocketed the key to the desk and went in to the bathroom to take a quick leak. He didn't notice the key falling onto the floor as he zipped up./

/Running down to the garden where Sara was planting some flowers, he smiled and greeted his wife for the first time in three long days. She and Charlie had been away visiting her ailing mother in Arizona. Sara looked beautiful, her blond hair shining in the sun, and those dark blue eyes smiling at him in welcome made him fill to hardness in response./ 

/He started kissing her before his butt was even planted next to her. She smelled of sunshine and sweat, of woman. When they came up for air, he talked with her a bit, then kissed her again. The shot rang over the quiet garden, wrenching him away from her. His gun. Oh, God, where was Charlie?/

Jack's fists came to his hair, grabbing and pulling with a good portion of his strength.

"Stop it! Please!" 

The shout in the rain-drenched air did the trick and the memory dissolved into the wetness. For the moment. It had been almost a year since Charlie went. Why wasn't he getting over it? Shit, it hurt just as bad now as then. No, it hurt worse now. 

Tears mixed with the rain on his cheeks as Jack climbed down the pier to the rocks below. He pulled his gun out from under his worn black leather coat with shaking hands, holding it high as he started wading into the waves. His plan was to wade as far out from shore as possible, then to shoot himself. What better way to go than having his dead body pulled into the ocean currents off of the land his mother had loved?

As he struggled against the strong currents to aim his gun, Colonel Jack O'Neill didn't see the rain-swollen wave coming towards him. His feet were swept out from under his body as the wave engulfed his head, gun and all. Using his free hand and his feet, Jack fought to get his head above water. The outgoing under-current shot him over a shelf of rocks, the force of his impact knocking the gun away at the same time it took his consciousness. Blackness took over, and all suffering, both new and old, left him.

* * *

The first thing Jack became aware of was a reverberating pain in his skull that thronged in time to the beating of his heart. The next thing was a feeling that he couldn't breathe, couldn't get air into his lungs. A continuous tugging on his jacket had him swinging his aching head over to look at what held him. A large harbor seal had a good chunk of his leather jacket in it's teeth as it swam gracefully through the heaving waves. He could see its nearest eye, a startling light blue color, as it concentrated on its goal.

/A seal? Were there seals in heaven, or ...or in the other place? Had Charlie turned into a seal? Were there seals with blue eyes like this one had?/ 

Those thoughts escaped as the blackness descended again.

* * *

The smell of a fire and the sounds it made as the burning wood cracked greeted Jack's return to consciousness. 

A warm hand touched his cold face, causing pain to shoot through him.

"No!"

"So, you're finally awake."

The soft voice above him lured Jack into opening his eyes. Firelight glinted off the wire-rimmed glasses of the man who leaned over him.

"Who..." Severe nausea tore through him, and the stranger helped him to turn more onto his side as all the salt water he had swallowed came back up and onto the plastic flooring beyond the blanket he was lying on.

"Good, get rid of as much as you can." 

When the bout of retching finished, he was offered a glass of cold water from which he only sipped, then was helped to lie back down.

"Who 'rr y..."

"Who am I? I'm Dr. Daniel Jackson. I found you lying on the shore next to my dig site, unconscious. Can you take another drink of water? You need to get rehydrated. You've been getting rid of a lot of salt water while you were unconscious."

"Wherrr?"

"Where are you? In the country of Ireland, on Bogway Island to be exact."

Jack tried to open his eyes wider, but the pain in his head and gut and lungs proved to be too much. He let the darkness overtake him with thanks.

* * *

The next time Jack opened his eyes, it was day, as he could see the dim wet light through the doorway of the prefab hut he was in. His head and everything else still hurt liked hell, but at least he didn't feel like something the seal had dragged in. 

The seal had dragged in? The seal! He had been rescued by a seal, one with blue eyes! Well, he wasn't sure about the eye color, but he was damned sure of the teeth marks on his leather jacket, which was currently draped over him.

Sitting up too quickly proved itself to be a very bad idea, as his pounding head attested quickly. His body's response was to throw up more water, causing nails to shoot through his forehead like they were being pounded with a planet-sized hammer.

"Easy." Strong hands and arms supported him, gently pulling him against an even stronger body. "Just sit quietly for a few minutes, and your equilibrium will settle down."

Annoyed at being held like a baby, Jack tried to pull away. The hands let him go, but the Colonel could feel the reluctance with which they gave way.

Jack turned slowly towards the voice, seeing the man who had helped him earlier. He cleared his very sore throat. "Dr. Jackson?"

The young man in front of him said shyly, "Daniel, please call me Daniel." Daniel held up some rather worn-looking documents. "And you're Colonel Jack O'Neill of the United States, according to these. I found your passport and other papers in your zipped jacket pocket. Along with this."

Daniel held up Jack's gun holster.

"Funny, there wasn't a gun in it."

"I lost it."

"Do you think you can drink some more water? I have some tylenol for the pain. There doesn't seem to be any serious damage to your body, other than some nasty bruises, a belly full of ocean water and a mild concussion."

Jack took the glass of water and drank it down slowly. Leaving it about half full, he reached over and took the three tylenol from Daniel's outstretched hands and swallowed them.

"Why aren't I in a hospital?"

Blushing, Daniel wrapped his arms around his knees. "I'm the only one here on the island, working on an archeological dig, actually. A boat comes out once a week to bring supplies, but other than having an emergency radio, well I don't have any contact with the outside world. I sent a message about you over, but we've been in the middle of a major storm, and they couldn't risk a boat unless you were dying. I've had a lot of experience with field first aid, and I have a lot of medical supplies, so it was decided that it was safer to keep you here until the storm died down."

"Um, thanks, for saving me from drowning."

"I didn't save you, Colonel. I found you on the beach."

"I dreamed that a seal dragged me by my jacket through the water." He left out that it had blue eyes. It wouldn't be good to appear too nuts, after all.

Daniel's face showed very little surprise, but some interest did show as he said, "I guess that's why you had teeth marks on your jacket. I've heard tales around here about how the seals will sometime save drowning fishermen."

"Yeah." Jack suddenly became conscious of his clothing. He wasn't wearing his usual clothes. He had on a thick fisherman's sweater and some jeans that were a little too short and a bit big around the hips and waist. His leather jacket was draped over his chest and shoulders with his arms put through the armholes to keep it on.

"Where are my clothes?"

"Over there by the fire. They were soaked and you were freezing when I found you, so I took them, put some of mine on you, and washed and dried your clothes."

"Can I have them back? And I have to go pee."

Again the younger man blushed for some reason. "It's really raining out there, so I have a ...a kind of chamber pot here for when I have to go. Actually it's only a covered bucket. Do you think you can stand by yourself?"

Jack tried to get up, but he got dizzy and would have fallen on his face if Daniel hadn't caught him.

"Easy, Colonel. Your equilibrium will be messed up for a while. Just close your eyes for now. That's it. Now open them. How's that?"

Jack opened up his eyes and turned to his benefactor. "Thanks. Can you bring the bucket over?"

Daniel seemed to realize that Jack felt more in charge of his body and at the same time more uncomfortable with nursemaiding, and he let go of him in order to fetch the bucket. Jack did his business, then buttoned up and came back to the fire.

"You said you were on a dig?"

"Yes. I'm studying some ancient writing on the walls of an abandoned temple. It's an obscure Gaelic dialect that's been proving a real challenge to translate."

"You're an archeologist?"

"Yes. I also have a doctorate in linguistics and speak a lot of languages, so that's why they asked me to come out after the temple was exposed to try to translate these wall writings in situ." Daniel had been stirring something that had been heating in a pan over the fire in the small brazier. "I've made some broth for you. You need to get something on your stomach." He glanced up at Jack with a shy smile. "Other than salt water, that is."

"Here. Sorry about not having any bowls, but I always pack pretty light when I'm camping out. Hold it by the cloth around the handle, it's hot." Handing Jack the pot, Daniel sat back and resumed what apparently was his own meal. It looked like a mishmash of vegetables and some kind of meat.

Jack blew on the hot soup in his spoon, finally tasting it gingerly. It was a salty clear chicken broth, rather nasty smelling, actually. But after he swallowed the first spoonful, it disappeared inside of him quickly. He had been hungry.

"I have some crackers here, if you're up to it."

Daniel handed over the cracker box, a stone-ground wheat brand that was heavy and surprisingly tasty.

"Is that coffee I smell?"

"Yes. I always have some brewing when I'm in here. I'm not sure that coffee would be good on your stomach, but if you want to try some, Colonel, I'll pour you some."

"I'd like to try, it smells so good. And call me Jack. I'm retired."

Daniel flashed a hint of a smile, which lit up his face. Jack's eye sharpened as it dawned on him suddenly that this shy archeologist was rather hot when he smiled. That thought surprised O'Neill more than a little. He hadn't even looked at men in that way since he had met and fallen for Sara. Or women, for that matter. He was definitely a one woman, ah person, man.

"Okay, Jack, but only a little bit this first time, okay? Your stomach will still be sensitive after ingesting all that ocean water. Oh, and we'll have to share cups. I've only enough kit for one person."

"Hey, I shared my jacket with a seal before. After that, sharing your stuff is nothing. I really appreciate what you've done here, Daniel. Who knows what would have happened if I'd just kept lying out there in this storm."

"Hey, having a person wash up on my shore is quite an occurrence. Especially one that was delivered by one of the selkies personally."

"Selkie?"

Again came and went the quicksilver smile. "An old Irish and Scottish folk tale. Selkies are some of the Little Mysteries, water spirits who swim the oceans in the shape of seals. They can shed their pelts and assume the shapes of humans for a time, can even have human babies. Though it's also said that a child born of a human and a selkie has half a chance of being one of the Little Mysteries themselves if they ever touch a seal pelt."

Jack had to smile at the tale. Charlie would have loved that one. He sobered as he realized that for the first time since he'd lost his son, he actually had thought about Charlie without the usual overt paralyzing pain.

Daniel had seen the smile, and the following agonizing sadness that followed it, on the handsome face of the man in front of him. His curiosity flared again about this attractive and strangely haunted stranger he'd rescued.

"Jack? You looked so sad there for a second."

After a slight hesitation, O'Neill answered. "My son would have loved that story." Jack usually never mentioned his son to people, even good friends, because he couldn't bear their pity. Why the hell did he say that to this gentle stranger?

"You have a son?"

"Charlie's gone now. For almost a year."

Compassion, but not pity, showed on Daniel's expressive face, and the blue eyes became full of sorrow for the loss of a life. It was obvious to Jack that this scientist subscribed to the John Dunn statement: "No man is an Island; entire of itself; Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main... Any man's death diminishes me, for I am involved with mankind; And therefore never send to know for who the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."

"Oh, Jack, I'm so sorry."

Jack only shrugged, overcome with pain that seemed as raw now as it did then. "I miss him." Now why did he say that to this stranger? It was more than Sara ever got out of him.

"For what it's worth, I know about losing someone you love. I lost both my parents when I was eight in an accident."

That shocked Jack out of himself. "What? Daniel, that's really an awful thing to happen to a kid. Were they archeologists like you?"

"My father was. My mother was a, well, she studied the sea."

"Oh, a marine biologist?"

"Something like that. Hey, you're starting to look tired, and it's starting to get late. Why don't you get into your own clothes like you wanted, and then we can settle down for the night. I only have one sleeping bag, but I have lots of blankets that the ladies over in Kildarren have leant me when I've been in town. We can spread out the opened sleeping bag, and share the blankets if that's okay? It gets pretty cold here at night."

"When will the boat be here?"

"If the storm ends tonight, they'll be here tomorrow. If not, they'll come after it ends. I'll take you over to the town doctor, since I have a car parked in the village, to get you checked out."

"I'm fine. You did a good job taking care of me, Doctor Jackson."

The smile returned and actually stayed on Daniel's face for a while longer. Jack felt a lump come to his throat as Daniel's impossibly blue eyes stared back at him for an instant. Funny, Daniel's eyes were the same color as his dream seal's were. He must have blended his human rescuer with his pinaped one in his mind during the event, or something like that.

"Still, a real medical doctor should probably have a look at you, Jack. Just to be safe."

Jack watched as his companion's elegant eyebrows arched in sinc with his feelings. "Okay, guy, if you think I should."

"Well, you should, and it gives me an excuse for going into town."

They got ready to sleep, and Daniel encouraged Jack to crawl under the covers while the archeologist wrote in his journal. Jack fell asleep quickly, exhausted after his short day. In the middle of the night he jolted awake, his Special Ops' reflexes triggering as he opened his eyes. In the dying firelight, Jack saw the door open and Daniel came in. The archeologist was completely naked and held something dark in his right hand.

"Daniel? Is everything okay?"

Tucking whatever it was away in a trunk, Daniel came over to Jack and hunched down in front of him. It was obvious that he was completely uninhibited in his nakedness. Jack wasn't, though, and for a few short seconds he wished there was more light to see by. The fire had died to embers.

"Everything's fine. I just went to make sure my covers were holding over the dig site. This storm is taking forever to run down."

"Aren't you cold?" The older man could feel the other's smile.

"It's easier than wearing something and having to dry it out. Shhhh. You need to rest, now. I'll be right in after I put some more wood on the fire and get some clothes on."

Surprisingly, Jack did fall back to sleep, not even stirring when Daniel slipped under the blankets next to him.

When Jack woke up, the first thing he noticed was the sound of rain outside from the seemingly never-ending storm. The second thing that came to his attention was the heavy weight that was coiled around and over him. Somehow, during the night, Daniel had migrated over and cuddled himself around Jack. The archeologist's head was snuggled under the Colonel's chin and on a very numb shoulder, his brown hair tickling. Jack had somehow put his arm around Daniel in the night, and was holding the younger man tightly. Daniel's thigh was thrown over Jack's legs possessively.

/Sheesh! I'm surprised the kid didn't trigger my reflexes when he moved into grapple mode and came over here. He's lucky I didn't strangle him by reflex. I must have felt very safe with Daniel, for him to get this close./

Jack just stayed where he was, feeling the archeologist sleep by the warm breaths hitting his neck. He was surprised at how good it felt to wake up with someone in his arms, even by mistake like this.

Before too long, Daniel started the process of waking up. He moved his body, not further from Jack, but even closer, then the blue eyes opened in surprise. The archeologist took in who he was grappling, and backed away with a scooting side motion.

"God, Jack, I'm sorry! I'm a terrible snuggler in my sleep."

"Hey, it's okay kid. I've got another perfectly good arm to replace the numb one." He smiled. "Don't worry about it. It was nice to wake up with someone for a change, even if it was a mistake."

/Shit! I didn't mean for that to come out like that./

"Uh, I didn't mean to sound like I didn't like it or anything..."

/God, that's even worse! He's going to think I'm an idiot./

What Daniel did was smile at Jack's nervousness. Not his shy quicksilver smile, but a full-out amused grin.

"Colonel O'Neill, you're nervous, aren't you? It's like you've never awakened with a strange man in your arms before, or something."

Now Jack realized the funny aspects of the situation as he let Daniel tease him. He grinned back at the younger man. "It's been a while, kid. More than ten years, actually."

Now Daniel was the one who looked shocked, and suddenly nervous, as he blushed deeply. "You mean you, um, you're bi, Jack? But you were in the Air Force, weren't you?"

Jack sat up, not feeling much dizziness as he did so. "Hey, things like that do happen in the Air Force, ya know. We just don't tell anyone about it and try hard not to get caught." 

He had pulled the covers down as he sat up, and he saw to his shock that Daniel wasn't wearing a shirt, and he only had on a pair of long underwear pants covering his legs. Jack admired the hard muscles of the younger man's chest and arms and felt a stirring of desire suddenly.

"Don't you get cold sleeping like that out here?"

The blush deepened, and from the looks of it, covered the younger man's entire body. The stir down below became more pronounced, suddenly. There was no two ways about it. Jack was really attracted to this half-wild young archeologist.

"I don't like a lot of clothes on me when I sleep. I feel like I'm smothering. That's why I have all these blankets." He gestured at the six heavy blankets they'd slept in.

Daniel's eyes dropped to Jack's jeans, where the fullness of a semi- hard erection was pretty obvious. He looked up through his lashes at the older man, saying through his quicksilver smile, "I gather you're feeling better today? Not as sore or dizzy?"

Jack returned the smile, liking his quiet rescuer even more for not pushing the mutual attraction between them. "Still pretty sore all over and a small headache, but the nausea is mostly gone, and so's the dizziness. I'm feeling all itchy from the salt and sand still on my skin, though."

"Well, I'd suggest that you take some more tylenol for the headache, and I have some liniment with me in my first aid kit. I could stoke up the fire to make it warmer in here, and I've got a pot out getting full from the rain. I'll heat that water up and you can wash up, if you're not up to going out into the rain and getting a very cold shower."

"That's what you were doing, going out to the dig site naked like that last night? Taking a cold shower?"

Daniel looked down, suddenly shy. "It's a good way to stay clean out here, and I've never minded the cold."

Jack shivered. "Well, I'm too old to run around buck naked in an Irish rainstorm. I prefer my balls unshriveled, thank you."

Daniel laughed. "Too old. Right. What are you, thirty-nine? Forty?"

"Bingo, kid. I'm forty." Jack looked Daniel up and down. "How old are you, twenty-five?"

"I have three PhDs, Jack. Of course I'm not twenty-five. I'm twenty- nine."

"Well, you're way smarter then me, that's for sure. So, did you say something about hot water? I feel like I have the grunge over my entire body."

Daniel efficiently got the fire stoked, the pot of rainwater on to heat, and handed Jack some soap and a cloth from his pack. Jack took a whiff of it. It smelled like sandalwood.

"Nice. I guess I do the old sponge off thing, eh?"

"Do you want me to give you some privacy?"

There was a definite gleam of challenge in the younger man's blue eyes. Jack caught those playful eyes with his own brown ones. The sparkage was so strong between the two men that it almost seemed as though the temperature of the air around them increased.

"And make you go out in that storm? Nah. I'm an old airman, Daniel. We don't get any privacy, and we don't expect any. But are you sure you can handle seeing me naked?" Challenge accepted and returned.

Daniel moved over to O'Neill. He was almost as tall as the Colonel, with a grace that Jack didn't see that often.

The two men just stared, nose to nose, playing an alpha game with each other. Finally Daniel reached up and slipped Jack's leather jacket off his shoulders, letting it drop to their feet. He put his hands under the heavy woolen sweater and t-shirt and Jack shivered as cool hands touched the skin of his belly.

"Cold hands, there, kid."

"Then I guess you're going to have to warm them up for me." Daniel's voice had deepened, and his blue eyes under the glasses were almost all pupil. He slipped the sweater and t-shirt off and over Jack's head, moving to slip his fingers down Jack's jeans.

O'Neill reached to touch Daniel, to start removing his clothes.

"No. Let me do this first, Jack. Then it's your turn."

"You don't even know me. I could be some psychotic axe murderer or something."

"And I'm a strong and healthy man who can handle myself, Jack. I'm also a good judge of character. Besides, that seal felt you were worth keeping around, and they're supposed to be really wise."

Jack was rapidly losing the ability to speak as Daniel's hands unzipped his jeans and slipped them and his shorts down his legs. He kicked the things off of his feet as Daniel knelt in front of him. 

"You're beautiful." The younger man murmured as he put his fist around Jack's dick tightly.

Jack moaned quietly when Daniel squeezed him, but when the archeologist put his full lips on him, he knew he wouldn't be able to last very long. It had been nine months since he'd last been with Sara, and that had been a disaster. He couldn't get it up, the booze and his anger and sorrow about Charlie all ganging up to shoot down his libido.

"God, Daniel, I'm not going to last..." Daniel did something with his teeth at the same time he twisted with his fist, and Jack screamed, coming with a force he hadn't experienced in years. He fought not to pump his hips, not wanting to hurt the younger man by shoving too deep.

When he was finished, Jack pulled Daniel up and into his arms, moving on those full lips with his own like a starving man. Tasting himself in Daniel, Jack's arms tightened as he ran his hands down the younger man's ass. Moving them down and over his hips, he flat-handed over the bulge in Daniel's jeans. The stroke earned him a moan around his kiss, and a shove of impatience against the hand. Chuckling without letting go of his lover's tongue, Jack fumbled with the button and zip, finally freeing what he so wanted to have. Daniel wasn't wearing any underwear, and his uncut erection sprang free quickly. That fact turned the Colonel on even more, and he felt his own dick stir with renewed interest.

"Here, lie down and let me take these off." Jack lowered Daniel to the mound of covers gently and slipped off his new lover's jeans with impatience. He wanted that uncut cock in his mouth now!

Daniel was lying there, his legs spread in welcome, his lips red and swollen with kissing. He took off his glasses and gently tossed them out of danger, turning passion-darkened blue eyes back to O'Neill.

"Do I have something you like, Colonel?"

Jack licked his lips, coming down on his knees and between those spread legs. "Oh yeah. A great big lolly pop for me to suck on. Sweet."

He moved downwards, but surprised Daniel by not going for the gold right away. Instead, he moved to the sensitive juncture between inner thigh and groin. Nipping and licking his way over and up, he gently sucked on each of Daniel's testicles. Once through with those, he used his tongue to draw a line of gentle pressure from the perineum, between his balls, and finally to the base of Daniel's cock. It was the younger man who almost screamed that time, as the sensitive areas responded to the master's touch. 

"Please, Jack."

"Ya want something, Danny?"

"Take me. Please."

Jack did, first using his lips to create a tight seal over Daniel's foreskin while his tongue teased the sensitive head inside and tasted precum. His new lover had stopped writhing, and was now at a stage where his entire body shook with the intensity of pleasure from Jack's blowjob. Taking pity on him, O'Neill moved into a long- forgotten technique as he deep throated Daniel, using his teeth and lips to add a two-point squeezing sensation below his throat. 

He was rewarded by a shot of hot semen down his throat and a scream from Daniel that could have awakened the dead, if any had been around. He just held his lover's hips down and swallowed, taking all that was offered.

When there was no more to be had, Jack let Daniel's now softening cock go and moved up to take his lover into his arms. He felt the light kisses Daniel rained on his neck and collarbones, and he kissed the forehead below him gently.

"Thanks for that, Danny."

He could feel the smile against his collar. "You're certainly welcome, Jack. It was definitely my pleasure."

"I think we could use that sponge bath, now, don't you?"

"As long as I get to sponge you down, then yeah."

Jack O'Neill smiled deeply and said as he move to get up, "Sweet. Let's go."

After their mutual sponge bath, Daniel made up some of the local porridge, which was like a very thick oatmeal. Jack thought he would feel shy after being with the younger man, but he found himself asking Daniel questions about himself, and actually answering a few that the younger man asked. He had never felt so comfortable with someone so fast, like he did with Daniel.

"Danny?" Jack was lying on their makeshift bed, covered with a couple blankets against the chill in the humid air.

His lover was leaning against a wall next to him, reading his journal and writing a little bit every once in a while. The younger man had his feet on Jack's blanketed lap, and the Colonel was enjoying just rubbing them. He really liked Daniel's feet. They were almost unusually long and slender, with small web-like pieces of skin between each set of toes.

"Yes?"

"You have webs between your toes. I've never seen that before."

"Don't you like them?"

"Hell no, just the opposite. I think they're great! Really soft. I was just wondering."

"I have small ones between my fingers as well. It's a genetic thing I got from my mother. All of her family had them, I've been told."

"Danny?"

"Yes, Jack?" Daniel looked down to see Jack's brown eyes looking up at him.

"Uh, I don't usually do casual, or move this fast."

His lover smiled and reached down to stroke Jack's hair. "Neither do I."

"I'm not much of a catch, you know. I've been a wreck since Charlie... went. A guy like you could have anyone he wanted."

"I wanted you, Jack. Almost as soon as I saw you."

"Why?"

"Because you were so sad, because I knew you would... understand sadness and loss. Understand me, maybe."

"I can't imagine watching my parents killed, and growing up without them. You had a tough time of it, didn't you?"

Daniel side-stepped the question. "And I can't imagine losing a child. You've been through the wringer too. I guess your soul kind of called out to mine, or something like that."

"Hey, maybe you were the one who got that seal to come get me out of the water, eh?" Jack said teasingly. He was surprised when Daniel blushed.

"Maybe that seal brought me what I needed, have you thought of that?"

"Nah. It was just a weird coincidence. But I'm glad it happened."

They were silent for a while. Finally Daniel said quietly, "Will you stay with me for a while, Jack? I know it's boring, but you could use this time to heal."

"Boring? Nah. I'd have you, and I could fish. Nothing boring in that. Sure I'll stay... for a while."

* * *

Jack O'Neill stayed with Daniel Jackson on his lonely little island. He grew to love the quietly playful man with the mind of a scholar. Only one thing marred the peaceful world they had made out here.

Every night, Daniel would take something from his trunk, and would walk naked out the door of the hut. No matter what the weather, no matter how cold it was, he still made his solitary journey into the night.

At first, Jack just put it down to insomnia, or one of those weird habits a person gets into when they live too long alone. Finally, though, his curiosity got the best of him. He decided to follow Daniel on one of his nocturnal trips.

Pretending sleep, Jack didn't stir while Daniel got up, went to his trunk, and got the dark furry thing out of it. He stood at the doorway looking down at Jack for a long time, then he turned and went into the night.

Jack jumped up, slipped his pants on, and went out into the cold Irish mist. He kept sight of his lover by watching the gleam of his pale skin against the dark. Using the stealth tricks from years of special ops, he quietly followed Daniel down to the shore.

In the gray-dark mist, Daniel Jackson waded out into the water about ten feet, slipped the furry thing over his shoulders, and a seal dove into the waves with a barking cry.

O'Neill couldn't believe what he had just seen. His lover had turned into a seal! He got up and went back into the hut, shaking his head. No way. This was the twentieth century. No one believed in selkies any more. The mist must have clouded his vision of his lover diving in the ocean for a swim. That's all.

Deep in his heart, though, Jack knew the truth. Daniel had been the seal that had rescued him. The seal that had blue eyes the same color as his lover.

* * *

Towards dawn, Daniel entered the hut. He was naked and still wet from the sea. His pelt was in his hands, ready to be hidden again in the trunk.

"Daniel."

"Jack. How come you're up?"

"I wondered where you went every night, and I decided to follow you."

"Ever the good Air Force Officer. What did you see?"

O'Neill stood up and came over to his lover. "What I thought didn't exist. I saw something I thought was just an old story. It was you who found me in the water, wasn't it? You who rescued me. You're the seal with blue eyes."

"Yes."

"That's it? Just "Yes"? You break all the laws of reality for me, and all you have to say is yes?"

"I don't know what you want me to say, Jack."

"How about telling me how you became a seal?"

"Sit down, it's a long story. Can I wrap up in the covers? I'm kind of cold."

Jack snorted at his lover's matter of fact tone. "Well, yeah, that's what swimming in the Irish Sea all night will do to you."

"No, I don't get cold when I'm a selkie. Only as a human."

Jack, who was pretty cold himself, slipped under the covers and held them open in invitation. Daniel came in beside him and turned to face his lover.

"My mother was a selkie, one of the Little Mysteries who lived among the Hebrides Islands. She saw my father on an archeological dig in Mull, and fell in love with him. She shed her skin, took on human form, and went to him. He fell for her, and they got married. She went along on his digs, only occasionally returning to the sea when she could."

"Did your dad know?"

"I don't think so. He only knew that every so often he had to return her to the sea coast, or she would get sick. I was born here in Ireland at a Celtic dig up in the north. We went to Egypt, but every summer we always returned to the ocean either here or in Scotland or Cornwall. My mother knew all the old stories of the Little Mysteries, and told me of them. But she never told me what she was."

"After they were killed in that museum accident, I was put into the foster system and my parent's things were put into storage until I was old enough to be able to claim them. I was always restless, always felt as though there was something I was missing, other than my parents, of course. And there were these." He held up his hands and spread his fingers, showing Jack the vestigal webs between them.

"Once I was a man, I went to get their stuff. I found a seal pelt that I knew had belonged to my mother. It was so supple and alive, not brittle or smelly like most dead skins. I remembered the stories she used to tell me, one of them about a selkie's pelt. If a selkie dies and the pelt isn't burned, the selkie's spirit will be bound forever to it. So I returned to Mull, and I burned my mother's seal skin there. Jack, it was like she said goodbye to me then and there! I swear, I felt her presence. Then I saw a seal moving away from shore as fast as it could. I waded in, trying desperately to catch it."

"Did you? Catch it, I mean."

Daniel reached up and stroked his lover's bristly face, smiling. "No. It was only a regular seal. My mother's spirit had flown to where her family's souls went when their time had come. That night, I turned into a seal for the first time. The knowledge of my heritage was her last gift to me. When I came back to shore, I had my own selkie pelt lying on the beach next to me. I met my mother's family, the other selkies of Mull. I found out from them that I was the first of their kind to have blue eyes. The rest are all brown."

"Does that mean you have to stay by the ocean, or return to it a lot like your mother?"

"Not as much, no. I can go for years without being near an ocean. Then suddenly the siren's song will pierce my soul, and I'll have to get back to the sea. You know that the Greek sirens were selkies, don't you? The mermaid legends were all based on my ancestors."

"Wow. Neat."

"That's it? You're not shocked, or disgusted that your lover is a seal?"

"Nah. I think I figured out it was you who rescued me a long time ago. My subconscious just didn't want to admit that you were more than human. I just wanted to love you, Daniel Jackson, on our little island. I didn't want anything to interfere with the... the peace you've brought me here."

"Oh, Jack, you found your own peace, like I did the night I burned my mother's pelt, and set her spirit free. I just cheered you along a little, and stopped you from shooting yourself that first night I found you. You were too bright a spirit. I couldn't bear to see you take your life."

"You little shit. You took my gun and sent that wave after me?"

Daniel looked at him sadly. "Actually, I was following the wave. I knocked your gun out of your hand, and then the current caught you. The sea was really rough, and it was all I could do to grab your jacket and take you to my island. My trying to save you almost killed you!"

Jack gathered the young man into his arms. "Hey, you knocked some sense into my thick head, kid. It was almost dying that told me that I really wanted to live. Dying and being rescued by a blue-eyed seal- cum-archeologist, that is. You brought wonder back into my life, and joy. Don't be sorry about that. Not ever."

They lay there quietly for a while, just holding each other.

"What now, Jack? What are you going to do with your life?"

"I don't know, Danny. Maybe I'll re-up in the Air Force again. Or maybe I'll join some of my special ops buddies in their security business. All I know is that I *will* live. Because to do anything else wouldn't be fair to you, or to Charlie's memory."

In a small voice, Daniel asked, "When will you be leaving?"

Jack was quiet for a while, caught in his own thoughts. This time he had spent here with Daniel, the love he'd found with him, Jack didn't want to let it end, or let his lover go. He was desperately afraid to turn back into the wreck he'd been before he met Daniel, if Jack let him go now.

O'Neill pulled his lover closer. 

"Do I have to leave you? Couldn't you come with me? I don't want to live the rest of my life without the wonder you've brought to me, Danny. Can't you do your digs in places where we can be together? I'd love to show you my home in Colorado. To show you pictures of my son, to let you know him."

Daniel pulled away so he could look his lover's face. "You want me to follow you around? You'd never respect me if I did that, Jack. You're still too much the Air Force Colonel for that. I've been offered a teaching post at both Harvard and Stanford. Could you see relocating to one of those places? Can you do your security jobs with your friends from there?"

"Stanford's by the ocean, isn't it?" 

"Not exactly. But close enough to go there on the weekends."

"Then why don't we go and check California out? I can pretty much be based anywhere. I'll have to travel a lot, but so will you, when you go on your digs, won't you?"

"Yes. But not as much if I take a teaching position. You're serious about this, Jack? Trying to make a life with me, after only knowing me for two months?"

"I said I don't do casual, Daniel, and I meant it. I'm yours, that is, if you want a broken down old retired Colonel like me. You could do better, you know."

Daniel moved back into his lover's arms. "Ah, but you're my broken down old Colonel, Jack, and I think you're wonderful. Hell, I thought you were great enough that I dragged your heavy carcass four miles through a gale-level storm, didn't I?"

"You sure did. Hey, you owe me a new leather jacket once we get to civilization, ya know that?" O'Neill smiled and stroked Daniel's face, rubbing his thumb across the full lips. "Oh, and ditto to the wonderful bit, kid, ditto about you."

Jack kissed his selkie lover, his heart filling with wonder and joy at the thought of what was to come in the future for them both. Somehow, he felt that Charlie would have approved.

The end.


End file.
